If you’re searching for the ideal place to satisfy both your wine and art cravings, make sure you visit Yarra Valley galleries – they have plenty to offer.
Come witness how artists in Yarra Ranges and Alpine Shire are connecting art to nature through artist Katie Roberts’ explanation.
1. TarraWarra Museum of Art
The Yarra Valley and Dandenong Ranges boast a vibrant arts scene, providing shelter to painters, dancers, singers, designers and musicians from diverse genres. World-class galleries can be found throughout this region from those boasting views of sprawling vineyards to those nestled into rural woodland villages.
TarraWarra Museum of Art (TWMA), housed in an alluring Allan Powell-designed building at TarraWarra Estate, is an internationally-recognized gallery that presents Australian art from 1950s through today in captivating exhibitions that focus on ideas, place and objects.
TWMA is dedicated to advancing Australian contemporary art, featuring new works alongside iconic Australian paintings and sculptures. Recently shown works have included Dana Harris’ installation The Stations where she recreated his childhood and family experiences of growing up in suburban Australia using stand-ins for his mother and father (a blonde woman and an intimidating horned creature) which provides audiences an emotional encounter between memory and place.
TWMA also curates both local and touring exhibitions to broaden access to contemporary art. Notable among these is its annual Gertrude Opera season – a spectacular concert event which brings opera into the 21st century! Additionally, Waterwheel Gallery in Warburton hosts six to seven exhibitions per year from local mixed media artists with rotating exhibitions every three weeks, handmade shops for locals as well as its Open Studios program where visitors can meet local painters, wood carvers and sculptors in their studio spaces and learn about their creative processes!
2. Alowyn Gardens
The Yarra Valley is home to an abundance of art galleries. Ranging from leading commercial galleries and contemporary arts spaces, to small galleries catering for specific clientele – look for the “Yarra Valley Gallery Symbol” when out and about on your travels for easy locating of these vibrant arts spaces.
Alowyn Gardens in Yarra Valley is an impressive landscape to take in. Offering six exquisite garden areas and ideal for picnicking or taking part in one of their horticultural workshops, Alowyn Gardens should not be missed by any nature lover in Yarra Valley.
Autumn gardens can be breathtakingly gorgeous when covered with vibrant red and golden hues, adding a calm atmosphere with their delicate droplets of water clinging to leaves and in the air.
Alowyn Gardens are one of the Yarra Valley’s premier wedding venues with their breathtaking wisteria archway and Maple Courtyard Cafe offering lovely meals with friends. After your tour, stop in at their Chocolaterie for some sweet treat before shopping plants at their nursery! YAVA Gallery & Arts Hub Warburton hosts several exhibitions each year featuring artists from the region as well as hosting an Open Studio Program and selling handmade goods – not forgetting its fantastic handmade shop!
3. Warratina Lavender Farm
Visits to lavender farms offer more than just Instagram-worthy photo opps; their fragrant flower is also known for offering wellness benefits, such as relieving anxiety by slowing the heartbeat.
Warratina Lavender Farm, situated about an hour’s drive north of Melbourne at the base of Dandenong Ranges, boasts over 10,000 lavender plants that bloom throughout the year. Visitors to Warratina Lavender Farm can stroll through its purple fields during summer strolling past purple fields scented with sweet lavender scent before harvesting and drying in their drying sheds.
Farm is a popular location for weddings, photoshoots and relaxing family picnics. Wander through its fields and you will discover an intoxicating sea of purple flowers swaying with the wind; their fragrance fills your senses as tranquility pervades this serene scenery.
Visitors to the farm can buy lavender products in the gift shop and indulge in Devonshire Teas, gourmet platters and lavender scones in the cafe. In addition, they can view harvesting, drying and stripping processes of lavender in the processing room as well as participating in maker’s markets and workshops as well as wood working exhibitions. In addition, this farm welcomes dogs with a special doggy menu available within its tea rooms.
4. Yering Station
Yering Station has been a cultural epicenter along the Yarra River for more than 60 years, serving as both a cellar door and art gallery, featuring local artists as well as hosting national and international exhibitions.
William, James and Donald Ryrie first founded Yering Winery in 1838 under its original name of Place of Oaks (Yering), honoring an aboriginal word with this designation. Now owned and managed by their family, Yering offers hotel guests, visitors and locals alike an idyllic place to reflect while discovering heritage gardens as well as premium wines from its cellar door tastings.
Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon is an aromatically complex wine, boasting notes of blackcurrant, plum, and tobacco in a full body style. It boasts silky tannins for an enjoyable sip that leaves behind a lasting finish.
Harvest begins around late February/early March, making for an exciting, bustling time in both vineyards and winery. Fruit is crushed and loaded into one of two air bag presses for gentle juice extraction. After fermentation is completed, wines are aged in French oak barriques for periods ranging from one month up to eight months to allow the fruit’s own unique character to emerge.
5. Yering Station Gallery
Yering Station stands out among the region’s many wineries by featuring an unique cellar door/art gallery combination. Here, artists of both established and emerging status demonstrate how wine and art complement one another perfectly within two separate galleries and an outdoor sculpture terrace.
The gallery hosts numerous events and workshops throughout the year, as well as hosting an Open Studios program where visitors can directly engage with artists by seeing how they work – smell their paints, touch their tools and ask them about their inspiration!
The Yarra Valley art scene extends far beyond TarraWarra Museum of Art. Local galleries and cultural centres showcase a vibrant community of painters, sculptors, potters, jewelers and curators from varying artistic disciplines. Discover Tom Roberts, Arthur Streeton and Frederick McCubbin by following Heidelberg School Artists Trail; otherwise explore its heritage collections at Yarra Ranges Regional Museum or Emerald Museum & Nobelius Heritage Park; while YAVA Gallery & Arts Hub of Yarra Glen hosts six exhibitions annually while Waterwheel Gallery in Warburton offers mixed media artists as well as handmade products stocked from Warburton!
6. YAVA Gallery & Arts Hub
YAVA Gallery & Arts Hub is an innovative new creative space located at Healesville. Their aim is to showcase and promote local Yarra Valley artists while working in collaboration with Yarra Valley’s famed food & wine industry, businesses, and philanthropists to establish Healesville as an arts destination.
At Yering Station, the inaugural Members Only Exhibition: Small Sculpture was hosted alongside the wider Yarra Valley Sculpture Exhibition. This special event provided a different angle on sculpture by focusing on smaller works that invited viewers to get up close and personal with it; looking at details and sensing how its creator had touched it with their hands.
YAVA Gallery is excited to launch a brand-new workshop series, starting off with “An Introduction to Drawing”. This interactive session will help participants hone their drawing and observation skills and better comprehend composition. Led by Yarra Valley artist David Bennett, participants will leave feeling equipped with improved observational abilities, increased composition knowledge, and the confidence to use drawing as a form of expression. Registrations are required so please book your spot today on the gallery website or by calling us on 5989 6555!
7. Healesville Sanctuary
Sir Colin MacKenzie Fauna Park (more commonly known as Healesville Sanctuary) in Healesville is one of three operated by Zoos Victoria that exclusively house native Australian animals. As one of their three facilities, this non-profit organization plays an integral part in animal welfare and conservation initiatives like breeding the Helmeted Honeyeater which has since become endangered.
Healesville Sanctuary offers visitors an exciting animal encounter experience. Snuggle up with a cuddly koala or feed some hungry kangaroos during an exhilarating experience! Or observe wildlife in its natural environment via guided tours and bird shows, expert wildlife keepers revealing in-depth knowledge about their animals through talks and petting sessions, or marvel at stunning birds of prey during Spirits of the Sky Show and get up close and personal with parrots at a walk-through Aviary!
Healesville Sanctuary is dedicated to wildlife rehabilitation and provides care and attention for injured and orphaned native animals. To witness their work first-hand, visitors can visit the Australian Wildlife Health Centre where veterinarians and nurses treat sick animals before performing operations to recover them.